28 May 2007

Ian Beilfuss, Helicopter Boy

Greg Carr was in Chitengo for the past couple of weeks, affording us the opportunity to see more of the Park by helicopter! Greg always arrives here by helicopter, and keeps it here during his stay in order that he can get around the Park and the region for his work.
Happily, he also invites others to use the helicopter to accomplish goals, whether they be looking for the lone small herd of zebra in this vast park, conducting anti-poaching raids, escorting important visitors, or checking out the status of cutting and burning on the Mountain.
We were the lucky beneficiares of Greg's generosity last week, making two family helicopter flights, one to look for the zebra (didn't find them, alas), and one to visit the top of Gorongosa Mountain.

Ian is a terrific flyer, whether facing forwards or backwards in the 7-seater helicopter, and is often even the spotter of wildlife. We saw crocodiles, hippo, tons of waterbuck, sable, elephant, warthogs, and many other kinds of animals during our trip round the Park in the helicopter.

Alas even flying on a helicopter becomes old hat for this small boy after a short time. Ian snoozed on the return trip home...